arboreal lightning by atmos studio responds to musical performances

arboreal lightning by atmos studio responds to musical performances
photo © jonathan perugia
all images courtesy of atmos studio

to enhance a series of musical performances, atmos studio has designed and installed an interactive tree-like network of LEDs in london’s camden roundhouse venue. titled ‘arboreal lightning’, the illuminated sinuous form responds to sound input, producing a dynamic lighting event to activate each show. the project was initially undertaken to complement the four-day ‘reverb festival of contemporary classical music’, aimed at showcasing technological innovations. the piece was commissioned in part by musician imogen heap, and will complement her on a year-long world tour.

the illuminated tree trunk form changes color in response to sound input
photos © jonathan perugia

‘arboreal lightning’ not only functions to translate sounds into lighting effects, but also redefines the spatial qualities of the venue. in the dark, the LED strands’ arrangement masks the volume and architectural qualities of the roundhouse, and create a new environment defined by sound and illumination.

the project redefines the spatial qualities of the venue

taking influence from the roundhouse’s structural layout, the illuminated tree-trunk is composed of 24 vertical LED strands, and measures 1,500 meters in total length with 4,800 pixel nodes. the contours travel in parallel until they reach the venue’s ceiling, at which point they unravel to spread all throughout the rafters. this produces a spectacle not only focused on the stage and performer, but all throughout the space.

‘arboreal lightning’ complements imogen heap’s performance

the tree-trunk form is made of 24 vertical LED strands

the contours undulate as they rise upward

at the ceiling, the strands unravel to spread all over the space’s ceiling
photo © jonathan perugia

photo © jonathan perugia

project team:

design: atmos studio (alex haw, alexia michael, alice michael, christian erl, flora martinet, kurtis risi, natalie chelliah)
software design: adam stark
LED supplier: architainment (paul rees)
CNC routing: the cutting room (mark durey, garry)
microphones: sennheiser (dave wooster, phil cummings, alan march)
website support: fluency (sinead mac manus, edil samatar)
technology support: john nussey
space + fabrication support: makerversity
muse: imogen heap
fabrication: brilliant volunteers (alex mayhook, ana-andrea soria-alo, ana maria dumitru, ana tam, anke weber, ben kitchin, clare dallimore, cristina militaru, cody law, daria lanz, ditte blohm, donia chiselita, edil samatar, elena capodarca, elinor wood, elle phan, emma kilday, emma fayers, emilia li, fatima raza, francesco montaguti, fungai marima, gary nash, hannah chelliah, harish persad, hemant kumar, imogen wall, ishwariya rajmohan, javier lorentes, jay stone, joshua berry, karina hartnett, kok tew, lizzie downes, luisa fernanda, marie-claire rodriguez, margot lombaert, martina grilli, michal mojduszka, mohamed jacobo, myrto tzortzi, natalia fludra, nicola agresta, rashmir balasubramaniam, sidi lemine, sinead mac manus, susan fan, tanaka mazivanhanga, tina mccloskey, valeriu marta-becour, vanessa caradonna, yasmin metz-johnson)